Ventilation system



Dec. 2, 1958 s. H. EDWARDS VENTILATION SYSTEM Filed Jan.. 4, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m um mm W m5 m wax u a n m F Wm 4 0K Y B a,

Dec. 2, 1958 s. H. EDWARDS VENTILATION SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 4; 1954 EIEI E INVENTOR Samae/ H faa/aras BY ECAHOFFdSl/CK, flf/ys.

flmemberaH/refim United States Patent 2,862,434 VENTILATION SYSTEM Samuel H. Edwards, San Pablo, Calif.

Application January 4, 1954, Serial No. 401,926

' 1 Claim. c1. 98- 33) This invention relates'to a ventilation system whereby a room may be ventilated by bringing in fresh outside'air and discharging stale air fromthe room without ap- 3 heated, or of refrigeration, if the room; is being cooled.

It is also desirable to provide means for filtering any air which is brought in from the outside.

It is an object of the present invent on tomake a simple, inexpensive device whereby a room may be ventilated by bringing fresh air into the room at a temperature nearly 1 the same as the room temperature.

Another object is to Provide means for filtering the air in a room or similar enclosure.

In accordance with the present invention, a ventilation so that if air is discharged from the room the heat exchanger assumes the temperature of the ,air being passed through it and as air is later, ,broughtbackjfrom .the outside, the temperature, of theair is modified by the heat exchanger, For convenience, in ,describing .the invention it willbe assumed that the air in a room isgwarm and that the outside air is cold. When the device is used in such a situation, the heat exchanger absorbs heat from the air as it is being discharged and later releases heat to air as the cool outside air is brought in. By making a cycle of the discharge and inlet times very short, the capacity of the heat exchanger does not need to be large.

Referring now to the drawings:

- Figure 1 is a schematic view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a similar schematic view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a front elevation partly in cross-section, showing equipment which may be used in carrying out the present invention.

Figure 4 is a plan view in section on the lines 4--4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a plan view in section on the lines 55 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view on the lines 6--6 of Figure 3.

Referring now to the drawings, in Figure 1 there is shown a heat exchanger 10 and a blower 12 for treating the air in a room 14. A second heat exchanger 16 is also illustrated on the opposite side of the room. Leading into the heat exchanger 10 from the outside is a line 18 and leading from the heat exchanger 10 to a four-Way valve 20 is a line 22. A hne 24 leads from the four-way valve 20 to the inlet of the blower 12 while the line 26 leads system is provided having a heat exchange device therein the particular circumstances.

2,862,434 Patented Dec. 2, 1958 from the discharge of the blower to the four-way valve 20. Line 28 leads from the four-way valve 20 to the room 14. The heat exchanger 16 is connected by a line 30 to the room 14 and by a line 32 to the outside air.

The four-way valve 20 is controlled by a timing switch 34, which can turn the valve 20 to the position shown in .solid lines, or to .the position shown in dotted lines. When the valve is turned to the position shown in solid lines, the outside air is connected through the line 24 to the inlet of the blower and the discharge of the blower "ice '26 is connected through the room line '28. In this position, 'air will be taken from the outside and discharged into the room. When the valve is turned to the position shown in dotted lines of Figure 1, the inlet of the blower is connected to the room and the outlet of the blower is connected to the outside air so that in this position, air is discharged from the room. The second heat exchanger 16 may or may not be used, depending'upon the needs of If it is notused, there is ordinarily suflicient leakage around doors, cracks and the like of the room so that air can be drawn into the room-or from the room through the various cracks. Further, since the cycle is very short, the material around the cracks and doors itself acts as a heat exchanger.

The heat exchanger 10 (and 16, if used) can be of various materials. For instance, it can be a radiator which may be filled with water, a box filled with steel wool, or the like, or a conventional filter such as are frequently used on forced draft ventilation systems. Such filters are sometimes made of plastic materials and have an electrostatic action, or the filter can be made of glass fibers coated with an oily substance for the purpose of entrapping dust. If the heat exchanger contains several pounds of material and the cycle is made short, the heat exchange efliciency is very high. Ordinarily, it is preferrable that the cycle switch 34 operate on about a half minute cycle in each direction, but other periods can be chosen, depending upon the particular circumstances. In other words, air may be blown into the room for onehalf minute, and then blown outof the room for a half minute. a I

In Figure 2, another embodiment of the invention is shown which is similar to that of Figure 1 except that a dual system is employed. Further, in this embodiment of the invention, heat exchangers are shown on both sides of the blower and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a double heat exchanger could be used in connection with the embodiment shown in Figure 1. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, two complete systems are utilized which operate in synchronism, i. e., the system on one side of the room blows air into the room while the system on the other side of the room withdraws airfrom the room and vice versa.

In Figure 2 there are shown heat exchangers, 36, 38, 40 and 42 and two 2-way valves 44 and 46 are employed. Two valve actuating mechanisms are used, 48 and 50. The two valve actuating mechanisms are operated in synchronism, schematically shown by the dotted line 52 between the two controls. If synchronous motors are used in the valve actuating mechanisms, it is only necessary to get the system started in the right sequence and to provide a single off-on switch for the two valve actuating mechanisms. Thereafter, the valves will stay in synchronism since they are operated from the same alternating current source.

In Figures 3, 4 and 5, a practical embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. In this embodiment, a

casing 54 is provided which contains two heat exchange elements 56 and 58. Bafiies are provided within the frame 54, designated 60 and 62. Each of the baflies 60 and 62 has a central, rectangular aperture therein, designated 64. 'A plate 66 is provided at the bottom and a plate 68 at the top, running between the two bafiies, forming a tunnel-like structure between the two baflles. One side of this tunnel-like" structure is open to the discharge side of a blower 69, while the opposite side is open .to the chamber 70' which, in turn, is in communication *withthe inlet side of the'blower. The blower 69 has a self-contained electric motor. Mounted over the blower is a timing switch 72 with a shaft thereon and a wheel structure 74 which revolves at a low rate of "speed, say one revolution per minute. Within'the tunnel-like structure is a vane 76, which is pivoted at its center on rod 78. Rod78 terminates in a crank-like portion 80, which is connected by means of'sp rin'g 82 -to"a point on the wheel 74. This is shown most clearly in'Figure and it will be observed that the location of thewheel 74- and the-crank member 80 is such that a toggle action is produced so "that during half the revolution the vane 76 is in theposition shown at 76A in Figure 5 and during the opposite-half of the revolution is in theposition shown at 76B in Figure 5. Thus, as the blower is operated, the vane 'swings'from side to side bythe operation of the actuating motor 72. Thus, air would be drawn into the room-for one-half minute, and then-discharged from the-"room for-the nexthalf minute, and so on. Since the period of-"flow in each direction is very small, a relatively small'quantity of heat exchange material need be employed.

In a practical installation, a unit was used in a small office. The blower had acapacity of IOO'cubic feet per minute. The cycle Was one-half minute outflow'and one-half minute inflow. The outside temperature was 64 F. and the inside'temperature was 74F. The temperature of the fresh air in entering through the unit was raised from 64 F. to approximately 73 /2 F. The temperature within the room did not vary over /z F. over ane'xtended operating period.

-It is obvious that the principles of the present inventioncanbe-Carried out in various ways" and-the'invention is not limited to the Specific embodiment illustrated. For instance, it is possible to use a propeller type blower rather than the centrifugal blower shown, and to either reverse the pitch ofthe propeller blade 'or toreverse the motor proper. Also, it is apparent that various arrangements can be made using either single or double filters on each unit and employing several units in a room operated in synchronism.

I claim:

A ventilating apparatus for a room comprising an open ended casing adapted to be mounted within the Wall of a room, spaced partitions mounted across the housing and forming a transverse central chamber, said partitions having rectangular central aligned openings Within said housing, said openings leading therefrom to the outside atmosphere and to the interior of a room, a blower mounted Withins'aid central chamber, the inlet of the blower beingin communication with the interior of the central chamber and having a duct connected'to the outlet of the blower, said duct extending transversely to the housing and terminating adjacent to one side of the central openings, means for sealing the end of the duct from the central chamber, top and bottom wall plates extending between the top and bottom edges, respectively, of the central openings in the partitions forming a passage, theirernaining side 'of the passage formed by the plates being opentothe central chamber and thus to the tan inletya rectangular damper pivoted substantially in the center of'saidpassage and being adapted to oscillate between two positions, the first of said positions serving to connect the "blower "outlet opening with the outside openingand the chamber inlet opening with the room side opening and the second of said positions serving to connect the outside opening with the chamber inlet opening and the fan outlet opening with the room side opening,- a crank arm operatively connected to said damperpand toggle means'comprising a spring attached to the end" of said crank arm and a power-driven rotating disc whereby said damper is caused to oscillate between the two -saidpositions, and a heat exchanger associated 'with at leastone of the outside and room side openings'through'which air must pass on entering or leaving'tlie room.

"References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

